Vanguard Windsor II Says Goodbye to Armstrong Shaw
Vanguard deep-sixes the subadvisor, which had managed about 4% of Vanguard Windsor II's assets, and increases subadvisor Hotchkis & Wiley's sleeve of the fund.
Fund Times
Vanguard recently announced that it has released subadvisor Armstrong Shaw Associates from managing a small portion of the Silver-rated, $47.6 billion Vanguard Windsor II (VWNAX). Portfolio manager Jeffrey Shaw had been one of several managers on the fund, serving from Jan. 4, 2006, until March 3, 2014.
It's difficult to tell what impact Shaw had on the portfolio's performance. However, his firm's separate account had struggled overall during the past decade when compared with the S&P 500 Index and other large-blend accounts, typically suffering worse results during times of strife. (The separate account is an appropriate proxy, because Armstrong Shaw offers just one strategy.) Meanwhile, the small firm carries significant key-person risk. Armstrong Shaw has just three analysts, according to its website--two of whom have been hired since 2008--while Jeffrey Shaw has amassed a 30-year career at this point.
Armstrong Shaw had managed a sliver of the Vanguard Windsor II portfolio, totaling just about 4% of assets. That portion will be turned over to Hotchkis & Wiley, bringing Hotchkis' slice of the fund up to roughly 11% of assets. Vanguard hired Hotchkis in late 2003.
The biggest portion of Vanguard Windsor II (comprising about 60% of fund assets) continues to be run by Jim Barrow and the team at Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss. Like Shaw, Barrow has notched a long investment management career, and the fund named two Barrow Hanley comanagers to the fund a year ago, presumably to assume the reins from Barrow when he hands them off (that date has not yet been disclosed).